


Don't Hide

by artenon



Series: guardian angel [2]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, Wingfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-24
Updated: 2013-11-24
Packaged: 2018-01-02 13:21:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1057252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artenon/pseuds/artenon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi didn’t know what the hell Eren had done to his wings, but the kid was going to regret it. They felt…he didn’t know what word could be used to describe it, but maybe there wasn’t any word because that was it: They <i>felt</i>.</p>
<p>Sequel to Guardian Angel.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Don't Hide

**Author's Note:**

> ~~i continue to suck at titling things~~
> 
>  
> 
> HAPPY BIRTHDAY, [ZEE](http://levisnbuttons.tumblr.com/)! ♥ It's still the 24th here so I'm not late ok.
> 
> This is awful, I'm sorry, I don't even know what this is anymore. 2.6k words of nonsense sobs. Buuut it kind of made me want to write another (hopefully more coherent) fic set in this 'verse so maybe you can expect that to make up for it...in another few months because I'm awful at finishing things in a timely manner.
> 
> IDK ANYMORE SORRY i'm just going to...leave this here.

Levi didn’t know what the hell Eren had done to his wings, but the kid was going to regret it. They felt…he didn’t know what word could be used to describe it, but maybe there wasn’t any word because that was it: They _felt_.

He couldn’t remember his wings being so sensitive since when they’d first pushed their way out of his back, all those years ago. Their senses had long since dulled, to the point where Levi barely noticed them at all—a familiar presence, once uncomfortable, that he had learned to ignore.

He’d never thought it unusual, the way he’d gradually lost feeling in his wings, mostly because the whole situation was unusual. It wasn’t as if he’d had any sort of frame of reference. He’d just taken the change as it came.

But now…now they were as sensitive as they had been when he was a youth. And it was Eren’s fault, because it had only started after that night in the dungeon. Since then, they’d been much more reactive, almost seeming to have a mind of their own at times.

It was making them a bitch to strap down.

Levi sighed, glaring at his wings, which fluttered a little. He didn’t have _time_ to waste with this. The others would be expecting him soon.

They were going to Stohess. Erwin had managed to negotiate for Levi’s freedom, at least temporarily. It was thanks to Eren’s friend, Armin, who suspected he knew the identity of the Female Type Titan. If he was right, and they managed to capture her—well, it would give humanity an advantage they’d never thought possible.

Eren had been unhappy when he’d heard his friend’s suspicions—and who wouldn’t be, after learning that someone they had trained beside for three years was a traitor?—but he’d agreed to go along with the plan in the end.

Of course, it wasn’t as if he’d had any choice. With Levi’s life and reputation on the line, Eren’s situation was even direr than before. Everything depended on the success of this mission. Until then, they were both running on borrowed time.

With this in mind, it really pissed Levi off that he was wasting so much time just trying to get his wings to stay down.

There was a light tapping at his door.

“Who is it?” he asked, tone made uninviting as possible because he was not in the mood to deal with _anyone_.

“Eren, sir.”

…Well, maybe Eren was okay.

“Come in.”

The door creaked as it was opened, and then softly shut.

“Hi,” he said quietly.

“What do you want?” Levi asked, looking at him out of the corner of his eye.

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay. We’re leaving soon.”

“Are you sure you’re not here to make sure I didn’t run away?” He wouldn’t be surprised if he found out that Eren had been put up to this little visit.

“What are you doing?” Eren asked instead of answering the question.

“Trying to strap my wings down,” Levi replied. “Hey, here’s an idea—how about you stop standing there like an idiot and come help me out?”

Eren inched closer, eyes wide. “But—won’t it hurt?”

“I’m used to it,” Levi said impatiently. “Get over here.”

Eren walked over, and Levi stretched his wings out their full length, sighing a little because it felt good and he probably wouldn’t be able to do it again for a while, before flattening them against his back.

“Here.” He handed Eren the harness.

Eren took it, and turned it over in his hands. “Did you make this?”

“Obviously. The Female Titan ruined my old one, so I had to put that together from old maneuver equipment, but it’ll do. Now stop stalling.”

Still Eren hesitated. “I mean, it’s not like you _have_ to hide them, right? Everyone knows about them by this point…”

Levi closed his eyes. _Patience._ “Yes, but I’d still prefer they weren’t out for everyone to gawk at.”

Everyone would be staring at him either way, but he wouldn’t feel nearly as—well, _exposed_ with his wings hidden away like they always were.

“Are you ashamed of them?” Eren asked, and his tone was almost challenging, which pissed Levi off.

Honestly? Yes, yes he was fucking ashamed of his wings that set him apart from everyone else. Yes. Thank you for asking, Eren. Was that not what you wanted to hear? Too bad. Now kindly fuck off.

“I don’t think that matters,” Levi said, having played his fantasy answer out in his mind. But it was a poor attempt to get out of answering the question, and he knew it. Eren wasn’t going to let him off the hook for this one.

Right on cue, Eren said, “I didn’t take you for someone who cared about what others thought.”

_Well, fuck you,_ Levi thought, _you don’t know a thing about me, you assuming piece of shit._

It wasn’t fair at all, but Levi had a tendency to think uncharitable thoughts when he was in a bad mood. Eren should be grateful that he wasn’t voicing these thoughts. The fact that he couldn’t know Levi was thinking them was irrelevant.

“Well,” he bit out, “I’m sorry to disappoint.”

Eren’s challenging look dissolved into one of alarm. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m sorry I’m not living up to your expectations,” he said, coldly, and Eren took him by the shoulders—harness clattering to the floor—and shook him.

“Don’t say that!”

Levi watched him, passive, and Eren’s grip tightened.

“Why aren’t you fighting back?”

Their faces were close. Eren was pinning him with his teal blue eyes, always burning with emotion. Right now they were blazing with an almost frantic indignation.

“Why won’t you say anything, Corporal?”

He called him Corporal, as if his rank meant anything to him. Levi had known, from the first time he saw him, that Eren would never submit to anyone. He would break any rule, disobey any command, if he felt he had to. He wasn’t afraid to challenge Levi like an equal.

It was precisely what attracted Levi to Eren and what frustrated Levi to no end about him.

Eren wanted Levi to fight back, but Levi was just tired.

“What do you want me to say, Eren?” he asked. “The truth isn’t what you want to hear and there’s no point in lying.”

“Don’t decide what I want and don’t want to hear,” Eren said.

“I do care,” Levi snapped, jerking shoulders in a vain attempt to get Eren to drop his hands. “I do fucking care what people think. I’ve hidden my wings my whole life. I’ve been so careful, all these years, and now everyone just _knows_ about them, because I had to save _your_ sorry ass.” He knew he should stop, but now that he actually had the chance to say what he thought, the words just kept coming, voice rising in anger. “And they’re going to look at me differently. All I ever wanted my whole goddamn life was to belong somewhere, and I thought I had that here in the Scouting Legion, but now that’s gone, too. So don’t pretend everything’s fine. Don’t act like nothing’s changed. I’m sorry I’m not the perfect hero you want me to be, but you have no idea what I’ve been through.”

It was a childish outburst, and Levi realized as soon as he said it how stupid he’d been to accuse Eren of all people of having no idea how he felt. He braced himself for the stinging retort that was sure to come.

But Eren didn’t shout. He didn’t leave, either. He just slid his arms around Levi’s back, under his wings, and pulled him into a hug.

He said, softly, gently, “I think I have some idea.”

Levi tried to resist giving into the hug—as if things could be fixed, just like that—but, damn, it was hard.

“And I’m sorry,” Eren said. “All of this is my fault. Because I let myself be caught.”

Levi felt a twinge of guilt in his stomach. “That wasn’t fair. I didn’t mean that.”

“Oh, I think you did,” Eren said. “But I forgive you. I mean, you did save my life and all.”

Levi didn’t respond. Frankly, he wasn’t sure how. Eren could do that to him, sometimes, say something Levi wasn’t expecting and leave him speechless. He was simultaneously predictable and easy to figure out, and a curious enigma. He could act like the brat he was or as if he was someone years older, someone who had seen far too much and knew a thing or two more about the world than most of his peers.

Through it all, though, he was just Eren, the same as always, and Levi gasped and jerked backwards as a pair of hands burrowed into his wings.

“Fuck—”

“They were twitching,” Eren said, an almost-laugh in his voice.

“Stop it,” Levi said.

Eren did, pulling his hands back, and Levi was mortified when his wings followed them.

“I don’t think you actually want me to stop,” Eren said, and the undercurrent of laughter was stronger now.

“Fuck you,” Levi said, and kissed him. He wasn’t sure why. All he was sure of was that, in that moment, there was nothing in his mind except the desire to kiss Eren.

Eren leaned in closer, making an appreciative noise in his throat, and his hands were squeezing the muscles of his wings. It felt good, which Levi hated, so, naturally, he pulled away.

Eren rewarded him with a pout. Levi ignored it.

“How can you look at them like that?”

“What?”

“My wings,” Levi said. “You’re not disturbed by them. Actually, I’m beginning to fear you have an unhealthy obsession with them.”

“I told you before,” Eren said with a slight smile, stroking the wings in question with his thumb, “I think they’re beautiful.”

It was horribly embarrassing, but Eren could still make him blush, just by saying stupid things like that.

“They’re not.”

Eren rolled his eyes. “Your opinion isn’t valid.”

“Why the hell not?”

“You’re biased.”

“So are you!”

“Yeah, but I’m biased in a good way,” Eren said. “I won’t stand for you hating yourself.”

“Well, you’d better get used to it,” Levi said, bitter, and Eren shook his head.

“Wallowing in self-pity doesn’t become of you.”

“It’s not _wallowing_ ,” Levi protested. “It’s like the wings. It’s just there. I don’t think about it.”

“It’s there either way.”

Levi scowled, pulling all the way out of Eren’s grasp and moving to sit heavily on the bed. “You’re exhausting.”

Eren followed him. “I’m _persistent_ , and I think you like that.”

“Fuck you.”

“Are you going to say that every time you don’t want to admit I’m right?” Eren asked.

“You’re unbearable,” Levi said.

“Can I touch your wings again?”

“Is it me you like, or my wings?” Levi asked, exasperated, and Eren smiled.

“Don’t be silly. I’ve always liked you. I like all of you, and that includes your wings. And,” he added, while Levi was still trying to figure out how Eren could say shit like that so easily, “it’s just that they seem sad.”

And what the hell was that supposed to mean? How could the feathery masses sticking out of his back feel any sort of emotion?

“I don’t understand you,” he said.

He had no idea how Eren heard an affirmation in that at all, but the next thing he knew, Eren was gently stroking his wings again.

He wanted to protest, but it felt nice, damn it, why did it have to feel so good? And maybe he understood a little better what Eren meant now, because his wings felt warm where Eren touched them, and they vibrated with some strange energy that wasn’t there before.

“Poor things,” Eren said, smoothing out the feathers. “Hidden away all this time. They never had anyone to take care of them.”

He went on, saying nonsensical things while Levi glared at the bed sheets. It wasn’t _fair_. Eren couldn’t just affect his wings—affect _him_ —like that. There was an uncomfortable pit growing in his stomach, and Levi suppressed a shiver.

“Eren, stop. We’re supposed to be leaving soon.”

His wings quivered when Eren removed his hands, and Levi thought again that it was completely Eren’s fault that they were acting like this. And the _really_ shitty thing was that Levi was beginning to think that he didn’t mind so much, because now his wings actually felt like an extension of him, like they were a part of him. Like they might, incredibly, belong.

Well, he was a long way from reaching that point of total acceptance, but he’d be blind not to see that Eren was pushing him that way, or at least trying his damndest to. Levi had never imagined that he could ever regard his wings with anything but contempt, but then again, he’d never imagined that he would meet anyone like Eren, either.

It was a strange thought to dwell on, so Levi tried to forget it, and he went to pick up his harness from where Eren had dropped it and said, “Are you ready to help me strap these down now?”

Eren’s disappointment was visible. “Are we still on about that?”

“Yes. Hurry up.”

Grimacing, Eren took the harness again and moved to stand behind Levi.

“I-I’m not sure how—”

“For fuck’s sake, Eren, just push them down. It’s not that hard.”

He was wrong.

Eren did try. Levi supposed he had to give him credit for that. He used one hand, and then two, draping the harness over his arm, but his wings struggled against the pressure of Eren’s hands despite Levi’s best efforts to make them comply, and it, well, kind of hurt.

When he couldn’t hold back a muttered curse, Eren withdrew sharply.

“I’m hurting you!”

“They’ve never been like this before,” Levi said, furrowing his brows.

“I’m telling you, just leave them be.”

“Do you really think it’s that easy?” Levi asked, turning to face him. “What if you had to go around in your Titan form all the time?”

“Of course I don’t think it’ll be easy,” Eren retorted. “But I think you can handle it. And I think people will take to your wings better than to—well, me, anyway. I mean—look at you, you _literally_ have wings of freedom. I just turn into the enemy.”

Eren gave Levi too much credit. But the thing was, he also made Levi want to be better. For him. This stupid kid that had wormed his way into his life. Or, more accurately, shoved his way in.

When he muttered, “Fine, whatever,” Eren fairly lit up, taking his hands and dragging him into a kiss.

“You’re ridiculous,” Levi griped, but Eren just smiled.

When the others saw him with his wings flagrantly out, unhidden, they would think that Levi was making some sort of bold statement, a rebellious gesture. You found me out, but I don’t give a fuck.

Levi wasn’t going to deny it, but they couldn’t be more wrong. He would be consciously aware of every pair of eyes stuck to him. And it was going to be awful, but…it was also a start.

And if he knew that Eren was going to reward him with kisses later, when they were no longer in the public eye—well, Levi never said he was above bribery.

What really concerned him was the fact that he was starting to crave Eren touching his wings almost as much as _Eren_ craved touching them.

Damn him. Damn that kid. Eren was going to ruin him.

If only Levi cared enough to stop it.

**Author's Note:**

> i don't know i'm sorry. ;_;


End file.
